


Memories for Ourselves

by familyofthieves



Category: Veronica Mars (Movie 2014), Veronica Mars (TV), Veronica Mars - All Media Types
Genre: Drabble Collection, F/M, Family, Ficlet, Fluff, Gen, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-05
Updated: 2016-09-28
Packaged: 2018-04-13 03:39:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 9,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4506321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/familyofthieves/pseuds/familyofthieves
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This life might not have been planned, but they wouldn't want it any other way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Baby Boy

**Author's Note:**

> This is a collection of future l/v family drabbles I have written on tumblr and ff.net and have decided to finally the share them on AO3. Just a heads up they are not going to be in order.

He wasn't ready for this, having a boy. Another girl he could handle they were easy. Of course he was able to say that now when the little girl he had at home was only two years old and the worse thing she did was color on the walls. But a having having a boy created a new set of things to be concerned about.

He had first hand knowledge of how much trouble they could be, not to mention his biggest fear coming true. How was he going to handle him when things got tough? What if simple threats and time outs weren't enough? He didn't even want to think about what he could do, but he knew it was a possibility and that was what scared him.

"Are you okay?" She asked as they walked out of the doctor's office, sonogram still in hand.

"Why wouldn't I be?" He asked not wanting her to worry.

"You're just quiet that's all."

"I'm still processing the idea of us having a second kid. And just when I thought we were going to be done with diaper duty too."

"You mean the past doctors visits and my ever growing stomach getting in the way of everything wasn't proof enough?"

He shrugged "It's just taking me a little longer to wrap my head around things. We're going to have two kids under the age of five in the house, one girl and one boy."

"You know you're nothing like him."

He stopped walking and turned to face her, "what?"

"Your father, you're nothing like your father."

"How do you know?"

"Because I know you and I see the way you are with our daughter."

"But she's a girl, it's different."

"No it's not. You are going to love and treat our son the same way that you treat our little girl at home. You will never treat our son the way your father treated you."

"You have an awful lot of faith in me."

"Always have and always will."

She leaned up on her toes and kissed him, the bump from their son pressed up again his stomach reminding him of how much he already loved this baby.

"Now let's go home." She said.

He allowed her to take his hand and lead them back to their car. For now the fears were subsided, but he knew he they would always be there. It scared him how easy it could be to become the man his father was. But he and his wife were never ones to take the easy route, and with her by his side he knew his fears would never become a reality.


	2. Surf Lessons

It was a beautiful warm Saturday as she laid on the towel looking out at the ocean, but more specifically at the family in them. She had never been a fan of surfing, but she loved watching how much joy it brought to her husband and kids.

Today was her little boy's first official lesson. For his birthday his father had given him a board and a promise to take him out and teach him. Of course big sister came along for the lesson both to cheer her brother on and practice herself.

While she couldn't see their faces she knew how happy the three were. Her husband was a wonderful patient teacher. He never got frustrated with the kids and reminded them often that it took time and lots of practice. She knew that he was just as happy, if not more, teaching their children how to surf as he was surfing the bigger waves by himself or with his friends.

"Mommy! Mommy! Did you see me?" Her little boy said running over to her towel and throwing his wet body on her.

"Yes I did, you did wonderful out there."

"Mom did you see that wave I was able to ride all by myself?" Her daughter asked next plopping herself down on the towel.

"I did indeed."

"How about me Mommy did I do a good job?" Her husband asked cheekily, his son and daughter's boards under each arm.

"You were good too." She laughed.

He stuck the boards into the sand before kneeling down and kissing her.

"Eww!" Their children cried.

She laughed into the kiss and neither of them made a move to break apart enjoying another moment to torture their children.

"Come on I found Dad's wallet lets go get something to eat." She heard her daughter say.

She felt the kids get up from the towel and run off in the direction of food.

"Should we go after them?" She asked pulling away.

"Nah I let her do this all the time, though usually only with a few dollars and not my whole wallet."

"Of course you do."

"So how much longer till I get you out on a board?" He asked quickly changing subject.

"Well I need at least another six months to let this bun finish baking plus another couple for recovery." She said placing her hands on her small bump.

"So high maintenance, but speaking of that how is our next future surfer doing?"

"Happily riding the waves of its amniotic fluid."

"Glad to hear that. Now come on we better go gather our kids before they spend all of our money on junk food."

He stood up and held out his hand to help her up. The two walked quickly hand in hand in search of the children and hoping they didn't cause too much trouble.


	3. Mother's Day

Mother's Day used to be one of those holidays she avoided like the plague. She didn't need to see the constant reminders of how there were so many wonderful mothers in the world and that her's was not one of them. The weeks leading up to the holiday had been a constant reminder of all that she had lost the day she told her mother to leave.

It wasn't until she had her own daughter did she fully get to enjoy the holiday and understand its importance. She loved that for a full day she got pampered by her kids and husband.

This year was no exception. Celebrations started as soon as she had gotten out of bed and walked into the kitchen to see a full breakfast spread along with flowers and cards at her place at the table.

As soon as her kids noticed her they ran at full force to try and hug her first. Simultaneously they shouted happy Mother's Day as they wrapped their arms around her. She gave each one a kiss on the head and allowed them to continue to crush her with love.

"Kids I know today's all about your mom, but I don't think killing her is the way to do it." She heard her husband say.

The kids gave her a sheepish smile before letting go and running away.

"Thank you." She said finally able to properly breath again.

"It's the least I could do." He shrugged and pulled her into his arms to give her a kiss. "Happy Mother's Day." He whispered.

He gave her one last kiss before taking her hand and leading her to the dining room table. Their daughter and son quickly joined them, and eagerly shouted at her to open up her presents. Not one to deny the happiness of her children, or presents, she quickly tore at the paper.

She got the usual hand made drawings, cards, and jewelry which would be going into her children's art project box that was overflowing with all that they've made. They ate breakfast together as she listened to the happy chatter of the kids telling her all about how they made the presents.

Afterwards her husband shooed her off into the living room before she could even pick up her plate. She pretended to read a book, but was really listening to the laughter coming from the kitchen. She knew they were probably making more of a mess than cleaning up from breakfast, but it didn't bother her.

She saw the kids run upstairs and her husband walked towards her, his t-shirt wet from whatever had happened in the kitchen.

"Don't worry it's spotless in there, you would never be able to tell the Charlotte accidentally splashed water on me and all over the floor while trying to clean out the pan."

She couldn't help but laughing, knowing her daughter that was no sat down on the couch next to her and she quickly curled up under his arm even with his wet shirt.

"What else do you three have planned for the rest of the day?" She asked.

"Nothing up until dinner at your dad's. The day is up to you my dear. Though I do have a little something special planned for tonight."

"You do?" She asked picking her head up off of his chest to look at him.

He nodded his head, "I got your father to agree to watch the kids tonight and take them to school tomorrow."

She sat up right now very interested in his plans, "you did?"

Again he nodded his head, "I thought you deserved a little something that didn't involve kids or having to worry about scaring them."

"I know what I'm getting isn't little." She replied cheekily.

He smiled at her before leaning forward and kissing her. He lowered their bodies down onto the couch and hovered above her as they continued to kiss like they did when they were teenagers.

"A little preview of what's to come tonight." He whispered into her lips before pulling away from her.

She knew it was for the best they stopped now before they got carried away, but that didn't stop her from pouting about it. He stood up from the couch and held out a hand to her.

"I need to change out of this wet shirt and it's far too quiet in here meaning that our monsters are up to no good."

She took his hand and he pulled her up and into his arms for one final kiss. Hand in hand they headed up the stairs ready to tackle whatever mischief their children had gotten into, the knowledge of hours of uninterrupted parent time making it all the more easier.


	4. Too Soon

It was too soon for this, way too soon. He had just gotten home and she was still trying to figure out what she was doing with her new old life.

It could not have come at a worse time. Then again there was no real good time for them, especially not with their histories and screwed up families. Okay at least she had a good father as a roll model, but that didn't help her out all that much.

There was no way the two of them could do it, this had to be some twisted joke. It had taken her over a week to gather up the courage to go to the store and kept chalking this up to stress even though she knew that was a lie.

For once things were good in her life with little to no drama. Her dad was almost fully recovered from his accident so she didn't have to worry about him as much. While the she and the man who caused this problem might not have a label for their relationship things were steady and they were actually handling it like two adults talking through their problems instead of running towards away from them. Even the business was doing well, or at least well enough that she could pay all of the bills. She didn't want to mess up what little bliss she had going.

Deep down she knew the other shoe was bound to drop, it was impossible for her life to stay this quiet, but she hasn't expected it to be this life altering. But it finally came to a point where she knew she couldn't put it off any longer, which is how she ended up on his, or was it theirs, bed in the middle of the afternoon a positive pregnancy test in hand. Even though she knew this was going to be the end results it didn't make it any easier to process. She had no idea how long she had been sitting like that or even that he had come home.

"What's wrong?" He asked worriedly when he saw her in the bed.

She didn't answer or even look up at him. She heard him walk further into the room and crouch down in front of her. Gently he took her hands in his and pried them open so he could see what she was fixated on. From the silence she knew he understood what the little white stick and two pink lines meant.

After a moment he asked "how did this happen?"

Finally she picked her head up to look at him, "really do we need to have that talk?"

"I know how it happened I just don't know how…I mean when."

"I'm guessing around the time you came home."

"How long have you know."

"I've had a feeling something wasn't right for awhile now all that throwing up and exhaustion couldn't have just been from the excitement and work. Not to mention I was late and I haven't been this late since the first time I got my period."

"So what's out next step?"

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know the protocol of this thing, but I assume you have to go to the doctor to make sure it's growing all healthy and things like that."

"I don't even know if I want to keep it." she blurted out finally saying the words she had been holding in since the moment she took the test.

"Why wouldn't you want to keep it?" he asked sounding more concerned than angry at her confession.

"We're not ready for this Logan. We were only together for two weeks before you left and now I don't even know where we stand. Plus I don't want to give up my job and I'm still trying to figure out what moving back to Neptune means."

"First I didn't realize you needed us to have a label, I always thought we were more than just boyfriend and girlfriend. Second who said anything about you quitting? You can't go out alone anymore on those kamikaze cases, and you'll have to take a maternity leave like every other woman. But there is nothing stopping you from going back."

"But who will watch the baby?"

"I'll do it?"

"You will."

He casually shrugged, "It's not like we need a second income and my time is up. And there is nothing I would rather do than be Mr. Dad."

She gave him a look not believing what he just said.

"It's true, I have no other profession calling out to me. What better way to spend my time while you're off solving the mystery of the week than raising our child."

"Aren't you nervous?"

"Of course I am, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't go through with it."

"What if we mess up, or worse…" she started, unable to finish her thought.

"That's not going to happen to us, we won't let it."

"How do you have some much faith in this, in us?"

"Because I know us, we might not have the best track record for stability or trust or the best of role models, but together we can do anything. We'll be everything that our parents weren't. Plus any child with our genes is made for greatness."

"Or pure terror." she added.

"That too."

They shared a laugh and a smile, finally easing the tension in the room.

"So we're really doing this? Having a baby?" she looked at him in the eyes.

She was still terrified over the idea, but it was starting to grow on her. Deep down she knew she always wanted this baby, but the fear just got out first.

"Looks that way." he stood up from his position on the floor and kissed her.


	5. Over Due

She was over due, way past over due. She was surprised the bun in her oven hadn't burnt yet. Her doctor said she and the baby were healthy and it wasn't uncommon for woman to go past their due date. While this information did comfort her, it did nothing to ease her physical pains.

She was so tired of being pregnant and wanted this baby out of her. She had even gone to the internet to try and find natural ways of inducing labor and was desperate enough to try ever single suggestion.

She had done the simple things such as eating spicy foods, going for long walks, and even a bumpy car ride. When those didn't work she moved to the less appealing ones such as drinking castor oil and sex, which usually would be fun but not when she felt like a whale.

Of course those things didn't work either which just left her feeling so bloated and tired that all she could do was lie on the couch and cry. This was exactly how he found her after coming home from the store.

"What's wrong?" He asked running to her side and taking her hand.

"I don't want to be pregnant anymore." She wailed.

"It's okay our daughter is just enjoying these last few days of safety before entering this crazy world."

"But I'm not enjoying it, I want her out of me now."

"By the end of the week she'll be out. It might be through induction, but at least she'll be here."

"She's as stubborn as her father that's for sure."

"Stubbornness doesn't just come from me." He quickly kissed her before she could get herself worked up and start a new argument. "What do you say you and I relax for the right of the day. We could just turn on the TV and cuddle?"

She nodded her head in agreement, she still felt bloated and uncomfortable, but at least he had made her feel calmer. He wiped away the last few tears from her eyes and kissed her forehead. She picked up her body allowing him to lie behind her on the couch.

He started flipping through the channels trying to find something that would distract her. He settled on some stupid show on HGTV, it was the perfect background noise. He wrapped his arm around her and placed his hand on her stomach as they watched the show. Or really he did, she was already starting to doze off.

She was never able to fall asleep though. She felt a pain shooting through her stomach causing her to cry out once again.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"No I'm not okay my back is killing me and so is my stomach and I feel wet too."

"Um Veronica you're not the only one that feels wet." She craned her neck around to look at him confused. "I think your water broke."

Her eyes lit up as she processed what he said in combination to the new pains, "I'm in labor."

"Yes you are." He laughed.

He slide out from behind her and helped her off of the couch. He kissed her one last time, both of them thrilled that their daughter was finally ready to make her appearance.

He pulled away from her, matching smiles on both of their faces, "Now let's go have this baby."


	6. The Birth

"I changed my mind." she told him at the end of a long contraction.

"What do you mean you changed your mind?"

"I don't want to be in labor anymore, I want to go back home."

"I'm sorry but it's a bit late for that now. Besides I thought you said you were sick of being pregnant."

"I was until I realized how painful labor is. And I want our daughter to stay inside of me where she is nice and safe."

"She can't stay in there forever Veronica. She has to come out and face the world."

"No she doesn't. She seemed perfectly content in there several hours ago, I don't know why she suddenly changed her mind."

"Because she is ready to meet her daddy that's why." he joked, but she only gave him a look not finding it funny. "Our baby is done cooking, it's her time to make her grand appearance."

"But what if we can't protect her?"

"We won't be able to protect her from everything, but between us and your father our daughter will be the safest little girl in Neptune."

He kissed the top of her sweaty head as she nodded in agreement. Her mood changed from fear to pain as another contraction hit her. She squeezed his hand, the one that she had been holding since they got her settled into the delivery room, as she rode out the contraction.

"I can't do this." she cried collapsing against the pillows.

"Yes you can. You're Veronica Mars, you can do anything."

"You're just saying that because you have to be nice to me. You're the one that put me in all this pain."

"I won't deny that, but I'm not just saying it."

Another contraction hit her before she could say anything else to him. It wasn't long after that the nurse came in to check on her and from there her doctor came in to a final check and told them it was time. He took his spot up by her head as the nurses and doctor helped her into position.

He cheered her on as the doctor instructed her to push. He alternated between watching her face and what the doctor was doing.

"She's here!" he exclaimed as their daughter finally entered the world.

They quickly transferred her onto the towel on her mother's chest and started to clean her off. A cry pierced the room as the two new parents continued to stare at the life they had created.

"You did it." he said and kissed her head again, though his eyes never left their baby.

"We have a daughter." she cried.

"That we do." he kissed her head one more time before leaning down and kissing his daughter's head for the first time.

The dirty towel was removed and the baby was placed on her mother's bare chest and finally a new towel was laid on top of mother and daughter. Both of them had tears in their eyes in disbelief and awe over their perfect child. From two separate broken families they had united and created a perfect and whole new one.


	7. First Steps

The best part about working with her father was that every day could be bring your daughter to work day. Which it pretty much was, especially since she was still breast feeding. Plus she hated being away from her daughter so she used any excuse she could to get her in the office.

On this day the little family of three was sitting on the floor in reception. Her father was out working a case, and she was supposed to be filing and be prepared for any new clients that might walk in. But it was hard to focus on any of those things when her daughter was around and no one was telling her to get back to work.

The baby was a lot more mobile now that she could crawl. She had gotten herself into one too many tight spaces in her explorations of the new environment before the three adults realized they had to have someone on her at all times. Now she was standing up on her own taking tentative steps while clinging to pieces of furniture. Thankfully most of things in the office were still out of reach, but they had started to baby proof things to be on the safe side and not wanting any repeats from her crawling incidents.

At this moment her two parents were sitting on the floor while she held onto the couch smiling it them. She had yet to take steps on her own successfully. Without the support of her family or an inanimate object she would flop to the floor and crawl. They were cheering her on of course trying to get her to let go and walk to them, but she only laughed and bounced finding the situation funny.

"She's enjoying this way too much." he told her after another failed attempt. He made a face at their daughter, which made her laugh even harder.

"Well if you keep distracting like that she's never going to focus."

"No I'm pretty sure she already knows how to walk and she is just teasing us because she likes watching us make fools of ourselves."

"She's still a baby Logan, I don't think she is old enough to start defying her parents yet."

"But you forget that she is our offspring, she came out of the womb knowing how to piss off adults."

"Language. I don't want her first word to be a curse word."

"She doesn't know what we're saying, she's just a baby."

"Says the man who just told me she's a baby genius."

"Not a baby genius, just above average."

She rolled her eyes at his poor argument, which turned out to be a good thing. During their fight they had taken their eyes off of their daughter, but during that eye roll she caught something.

"Logan look." she whispered not wanting to startle the baby.

"What?" he asked too loudly, but quickly shut his mouth realizing his mistake.

Their daughter had let go of the couch and was standing on her own. The two sat patiently both on edge waiting to see what she did next. With a large smile on her face the baby took a few quick steps before tumbling into her mother's waiting arms.

"You did it!" she cheered hugging her daughter.

The baby giggled loudly clearly proud of what she had just done.

"See I told you all she needed to do was focus." she told him.

"I think she was just jealous that we weren't paying attention to her anymore."

She held the baby out in front of her, "Was that it? Were you just jealous that Mommy and Daddy were fighting instead of playing with you?"

The baby giggled, though she couldn't tell if it was because of the attention she was now getting or because her master plan had worked.

"What do you think can you do it again?" he took the baby from her mother's arms and placed her feet on the ground.

He held onto her tiny hands as he allowed her to lead them around the office. She knew it was going to take more practice before their daughter was stable on her feet, but she was enjoying these moments of trying to teach her too much to care.


	8. Second Birthday

She couldn't believe that her daughter was two or that she was a mother of a two year old daughter. She wasn't sure she was ready for it either, she had heard some horror stories about terrible twos, but so far her daughter had continued to be her sweet self. Though she had only been two for a few hours now, so there was still time for her to change.

They decided to celebrate with all of their friends with a backyard cookout, their daughter still didn't have any friends her own age yet so it was all adults. She didn't seem to mind though since she was getting lots of attention from everyone. She ran around the backyard from person to person as they started a conversation with her, which really was just them pretending to agree with the toddler since she still didn't have a grasp on the English language.

She had on a bright yellow sun dress and matching bow in her short blond hair, which would be covered in grass and dirt stains by the end of the day, but she didn't care. Motherhood had quickly taught her that it was next to impossible to keep a baby clean and to just roll with it.

As the sun was starting to set her husband brought out the birthday cake which she had baked this morning. It was a vanilla cake with white frosting and in pink frosting it read "happy birthday Charlotte." They sang happy birthday and watched as the toddler tried to blow out the candles. She had the basic concept of it down, but needed her parents help to get them all out.

Afterwards presents were unwrapped, which the toddler enjoyed immensely. Soon all of the adults were forgotten about as she was lost in the land of stuffed animals and books.

It wasn't long after that that their friends decided to call it a night and headed back to their respective houses. They had taken their cue from the birthday girl who had started to nod off in the grass.

"Today was fun." he said coming from behind and wrapped his arms around his wife.

"It was wasn't it?" she agreed and watched as her father rocked his granddaughter.

"I can't believe she is two years old already. Time sure does fly."

"She isn't a baby anymore."

"Nope, we have officially now entered the toddler years."

"I was thinking…"

"That's never a good thing."

She playfully smacked his hand, "I was thinking about how much I enjoyed having a baby around the house and that maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing to have another one."

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

She casually shrugged her shoulders, "It wouldn't hurt to give Charlotte a little brother or sister and I really do miss having a baby. What do you think?"

He spun her around to face him, "I think it's a great idea."

"You do?"

"There is nothing that I want more than having more children with you Veronica."

"Think we can start tonight? I finished off my last prescription of pills."

"You've been planning this for awhile now haven't you? What were you going to do if I said no?"

She shrugged, "Either made you change your mind on having a second baby or held out on sex until I was able to refill my prescription."

"Well it's a good thing I agree with you. And as soon as your dad leaves and we get our birthday girl to bed we can start."

She gave him a kiss on a cheek before turning back around to watch her dad and daughter again. The toddler was sound asleep in his arms worn out from a full day of birthday activities. She walked over to the pair and easily transferred her daughter into her arms without waking her up.

She still had trouble believing that she had given birth to the little girl in her arms two years ago. She was a little sad at how quickly she was growing up, even if she did have thousands of pictures documenting every moment, but she was excited over the idea about having another baby with her husband. She wasn't replacing her daughter of course, no one could replace her sweet little girl. They were just adding another member to their family, after all they had plenty of love to share.


	9. Pregnancy Test

She had no idea that trying could be this hard and tiring. Not that she was complaining about the actual trying to make a baby part, that was the only good thing about their predicament. They had gotten pregnant so easily the first time when they weren't even trying then, that she had assumed it would be just as easy the second time. She was disappointed after the first month of trying when she got her period, and for the months that followed.

They had vowed not to become that obsessed couple that started tracking her ovulation cycle and if trying ever became more of a chore than fun they would stop. She had more respect for the woman who never gave up though and kept at it for years. They had only been trying for six months now and she knew that it could take years before they finally conceived.

He was able to tell how sad she was each month, and was always there to remind her that when the time was right it would happen. Plus they already had a perfect little girl, so if it didn't work that was okay too. She knew everything he said was right, but when that time of the month began she couldn't help but feel disappointed.

She had learned not to get her hopes up and just expected not to get pregnant. Which was why when symptoms started to appear she thought nothing of them. With a two year old in the house germs seemed to be everywhere and it wasn't uncommon for one of them to be sick, especially in the fall.

So when she started throwing up one morning he tucked her back into bed and told her to sleep it off. Normally she would have objected, there was so much to be done at the office, but she was far too exhausted to fight back. That should have been her first clue.

It wasn't until she was back at her job, still feeling a little queasy, that she finally put the puzzle pieces together. She was looking at dates for their latest case in a mass of files when she realized that something was missing.

"I have to go!" she shouted to her dad and ran out the door before he could answer.

She went straight to the local drug store before driving back home.

"Where's Charlotte?" she asked as soon as she stepped into the doorway.

"I just put her down for a nap. Why, what's wrong?" he asked clearly worried.

Instead of telling him she handed him the bag that contained her purchase from the drug store.

"Do you think it's real this time?"

"I am very late and it would explain why I haven't been feeling well."

"I guess there's only one way to know for sure, lead the way."

Together they walked up to their bedroom and he allowed her privacy to take the test by herself in the bathroom.

"How long do we have to wait for?" he asked when she came out.

"At least two minutes." she answered and put the test on her night table so they could watch it.

"How did you do this alone the first time? I don't think I would have been able to handle the wait."

She shrugged, "I was in such a state of shock that whole day that the two minutes flew by."

"You're not going to be upset if it turns out of the negative right? t doesn't mean anything if we're not pregnant this month. We'll just have to keep on trying, which personally I don't mind."

"Of course you don't. And no I won't be upset, disappointed sure, but I won't be crying my eyes out if the test is negative."

"As long as we're on the same page, I hate seeing you so sad over this."

He pulled her into his arms and the two sat on the bed together watching the little white stick.

"Has it been two minutes yet?" he asked.

She looked at her phone, "Just about. You ready for this?"

He nodded his head yes. She leaned over, not wanting to leave his arms, and she picked up the test. Together they looked at the results.

"I'm pregnant!" she said in shock, but a huge smile lit up her face.

"That you are." he said equally as excited and pulled her in closer.

"We actually did it. We're going to have another baby."

"There's no turning back now. Are you ready for two little monsters?"

"More than ready. Sorry we don't get to try anymore."

"Just because we're not trying to make a baby doesn't mean we have to stop. We have a good hour before Charlotte wakes up from her nap, which gives us plenty of time to celebrate."

Before she could get another word in her rolled her onto the bed and started kissing her, the positive pregnancy test falling out of her hand and onto the floor.


	10. Birthday Morning

He had been sleeping peacefully on his back enjoying a moment of being allowed to sleep in, when a weight was placed on his chest. It wasn't hard to guess what that weight was, especially since it was wiggling about.

"Can you say wake up Daddy?" he heard a female voice say.

"Wake up Daddy." a second voice parroted back.

He opened his eyes a crack and a huge smile lit up his daughter's face.

"What happened to letting me sleep in?" he mumbled, not that he really minded being woken up by his two favorite girls.

"We let you sleep in a whole extra hour and decided that we didn't want you to waste your birthday in bed."

"No sleep Daddy." their little girl added.

"Who can argue with that logic."

"Can you wish your Dad a happy birthday?" she asked the toddler.

"Happy birthday Daddy." she said, though the th in birthday came out more like an f.

Without any prompting she placed both of her small hands on his cheeks and leaned down to give him a big kiss on his lips.

"Thank you Charlotte." he smiled.

He loved getting kisses and hugs from his daughter, especially when she gave them without being asked. Which was often because she was an affectionate little girl and was always looking to show somebody love.

"Guess I have to get up now huh?" he asked and tickled his daughter's sides.

"Yes Daddy up." she demanded between giggles.

He gave her cheek a kiss before picking her up and placing her on the floor. In her pink footie pajamas she ran off and out of the room.

"Happy birthday." his wife said and he turned his attention back to his first girl just in time for a proper birthday kiss.

"I guess I can't complain too much about being woken up early if this is how it happens." he mumbled into her lips."Why don't you wake me up like this every morning?"

"Because we have a two year old who enjoys waking up at the crack of dawn and I need my rest since your second offspring is still cooking."

"And how is this little guy doing?" he asked rubbing her stomach.

"Happy to be inside his mother's stomach and would really like to eat now. So why don't you get that cute little butt of yours out of bed and into our kitchen."

"Hey you can't boss me around, it's my birthday."

"I'm sorry. Will you please get out of bed so that we can have a birthday breakfast with you?"

"Bacon Daddy!" their daughter shouted peaking her head into the room making both of them laugh.

"Well if there's bacon."

He pushed himself out of bed and with a final good morning kiss to his wife he ran to the doorway where his little girl was still standing and threw her over his shoulder. He waited for his other girl to walk over to him and took her hand so they could walk downstairs together.


	11. Sunset Stroll

School had just started up again which meant the beach was finally empty again. During the summer months it was packed with teens, tourists, and families enjoying their freedom, which they too had enjoyed when they were young.

Now that they had two young kids the appeal of the beach during peak season wasn't that appealing. They also had to take into account that she had been pregnant and given birth in July which left even less time for them to go.

He had wanted to make up for lost time, it had been the first summer in years that he hadn't been on his board. She had told him he could go out, but first he said he didn't want to be in the middle of the ocean when she went into labor and after didn't want her to be alone with a newborn and three year old.

When he had suggested a sunset walk on the beach she couldn't say no to him because he had done so much for them this summer, even though she thought it was a little too soon to take the baby there. He got everything prepared for their walk ending with placing their son into the Baby Bjorn, the one that had been a gift when they first had their daughter and she never gave it away.

The little family was off on their way, she carrying the diaper baby and holding their daughter's hand while he carried their son. The sun was just starting to set as they stepped foot onto the sand. She quickly took off her daughter's sandals and put them in the bag before they got lost. Since it was just them on the beach they allowed the toddler to walk on her own. She would run up a little ways ahead of them and stand patiently while her parents caught up to her before running off again.

"How's he doing?" she asked leaning over to get a peak of her son.

"Sound asleep."

"But you know he'll be wide awake and screaming as soon as we get home."

"That's because he doesn't have the sound of the ocean lulling him to sleep, he takes after his dad that way."

"Does he now?" she gave him a look.

He ignored her and instead ran a gentle hand over their son's head. She loved how her husband looked holding their child. It didn't matter if it was their little girl or their newborn son. It made him look complete and more attractive, which she didn't think was possible. He was meant to be a dad.

"Mommy Daddy you coming!" their daughter shouted.

"We're right behind you baby!" he shouted back, the baby didn't stir at the loud noise.

She picked up his tiny hand and brought it to her lips. She couldn't stop touching and kissing him. Even two months in she had trouble wrapping her brain around the fact that she now had two kids and needed to touch him to remind herself that this was all very real. Though the 2:00 AM feedings were also a great reminder.

She turned around and saw her little girl standing impatiently waiting for her parents to catch up. She started walking towards quickening her pace and just as the three year old was about to start walking again she snatched her up.

"Mommy!" she squealed happily.

"Tell Daddy and James to hurry up."

"Hurry up!" she shouted.

"We're trying, but you're little brother keeps dragging me down. He's not helping out the team much."

He finally made it over to where his girls were standing and the youngest leaned over to give him and her little brother a kiss before wiggling out of her mother's arms. As soon as her feet touched the sand she was off and of course they followed behind.

She knew that they would have to turn back soon, her mothering instincts were starting to set in and she knew they shouldn't have the baby outside for too much longer after the sun went all the way down. She pushed those fears aside though and focused on the moment.

She focused on the beautiful little girl a few feet away waiting for them and how her husband looked at the little bundled strapped to his chest. She couldn't hear what he was whispering to the baby, but she was able to see every kiss he placed on his head. Even with her worries the moment was perfect.


	12. Backyard Cookout

She had no idea how her father got her to agree to this. She was due any day now, though she had a feeling that she would go over like her first pregnancy, and felt uncomfortable and bloated.

All she wanted to do was lie around the house or prepare for the baby. Every time she thought she had everything ready she remembered something else. Plus now she had a three year old and wanted to make sure she was ready for the change in their life as well.

Which was part of how her dad convinced her to come over for a final cook out before the new baby was born. Her husband agreed that it was a good idea too, fresh air would do all of them good and maybe even motivate the baby to come out faster. They both knew the second part was a lie, but she went along with it anyway.

This was how she ended up on a lawn chair in her dad's backyard. She had tried standing to talk with her friends, but everyone told her to lie down. For once she didn't argue with them, that's how painful it was.

Instead of being part of the action she was an observer of it. Well mostly of her daughter making rounds amongst the adults. She was now able to hold a conversation with them and while she couldn't hear what they were talking about she could see how happy her daughter was talking to her friends.

Her favorite was watching her dad with his granddaughter. She had always known he was a good father, he had raised her after all, but it was interesting to see the relationship from an outsider's perspective. Anytime he wasn't manning the grill he had the little girl in his arms. She loved it of course laughing as he scooped her up or when he wouldn't let her go.

He had just set her on the grass and whispered something in her ear. She watched her daughter nod her head in agreement to whatever he said and then she took off straight towards her mother.

"Are you having fun?" she asked the three year old.

"Yes Mommy." she smiled and climbed onto the chair.

She pulled the little girl in close, or as close as possible with her bugling stomach. She really couldn't wait to get ride of that so she couldn't properly cuddle with her daughter again.

"Are you lonely?" she asked suddenly.

"Why would you ask that?"

"Cause Grandpa told me so."

"Well you can tell him that I am perfectly content right here on this chair."

"What does content mean?"

"It means I am very happy. Now why don't you go attack Wallace and your Daddy, they look like they need a good surprise."

"Okay Mommy."

The little girl gave her mother a kiss on the cheek and a kiss on her belly plus said I love you to her little brother. She hopped down off the chair and ran off attaching herself to her father and pseudo uncle's legs.

She sat back on her chair and laughed at their faces from being startled by a three year old. She was totally fine not being part of the crowd, plus with the squirming little boy inside her stomach she was never alone.


	13. Family Pictures

Their house was covered in family pictures. Every wall and shelf had a least one picture featuring a member of their family. There was no rhyme or reason to the pictures either, she didn't like to over think the placement of them or make them match. She liked it better that way, to her it part of what made their house a home.

Of course there were none of those Sears or overly posed family portraits in the house. A majority of the pictures were action shots of her telling the kids to smile or capturing a sweet moment between them and their father.

They did have posed ones of course, though they were rare to capture. Not because they had a thing against them, but it was nearly impossible to get a good one with all four of them looking at the camera and smiling.

Someone was always looking the wrong way or blinking and then add in a wiggly child made it even more chaotic. The parents weren't innocent either with their snide remarks and whining, it was sometimes hard to tell if the children or parents were worse.

There were thousands of pictures on their computers as well. They would all be on the walls of course if they had any room to spare. She realized she had a problem with taking too many pictures when she burned through one of her largest memory cards the first week her daughter was born. She did slow down a little, but not too much. She wanted to capture every moment from the first bath down to the first crying fit.

It was also nice to take pictures of people she loved instead of using them for crumbling relationships. It was a waste to have such a nice camera and only use it for work.

Now she had perfect documentation of her children's growth. She hung each picture proudly on the wall. If anyone came into their home they would not question the love that this family had for one another. You could see it in the way that they smiled or their eyes shone caught in a moment when they didn't see the camera.

Each picture told a different story telling the tale of how this family came to be.


	14. Daughter's Nightmares

Nightmares were unfortunately a common occurrence in their house. The two of them had been plagued with them for years, tormented by all the terrible events that had happened in their youth. They had grown used to them by now and knew how to comfort the other when they woke up with that panic look in their eyes.

What they didn't know how to do was help their daughter. No one knew what caused the little girl to have such violent dreams. They did their best to protect her from the big bad world, but still things got through the cracks. She felt every little pain and it all stuck with her.

They woke up to her shrieking and he was the first to react jumping out of bed and running to her room. She was sitting up in bed when he turned on the lights. Her eyes were wide and filled with too much fear for a five year old. As soon as she saw that her dad was in the room she burst into tears.

"It's okay Charlotte it's only a dream." he said in a soothing tone quickly closing the gap between them and taking his daughter into his arms. "I've got you."

She clung to him as her little body shook from the sobs. He easily picked her up out of bed and carried her out of the bedroom. He ran a hand up and down her back as he continued to kiss her sweaty brow whispering you're okay over and over again.

He walked them into his bedroom where her mother was waiting with a cool rag ready to wipe away the sweat and tears. In the presence of both of her parents she finally began to calm down.

He laid down in bed, never breaking his hold on his little girl as he draped her over his chest. His wife laid down next to the pair and took over rubbing their daughter's back. The violent sobs that had plagued her body before became regular tears and hiccups until finally she drifted off to sleep again.

She let out a sigh of relief, "Thank G-d tonight was an easy night."

There had been one too many nights where they hadn't been able to calm down the child. For hours she would cry and cling to her parents, nothing they did would soothe her. Those were the nights they hated. The felt terrible and useless unable to comfort their daughter from whatever had scared her.

"I wish we knew what her dreams were about maybe then we could help her." he said looking over at his wife.

"Me too. We need to get them to stop Logan. I can't take seeing her in pain anymore, I want to take it away."

"We're going to figure this out Veronica. Somehow we're going to make them stop even if she has to sleep with us every night."

She let out a snort, "Oh yeah I'm sure that would go over well when she's a teenager."

"At least James doesn't suffer from these night terrors or wake up from her screaming. That kid sleeps like a log." he added.

It was something they were both grateful for, they didn't know what they would do if they had two children plagued by nightmares.

"For now be thankful that tonight we got her back to sleep easily."

"Tomorrow I'm going to start research on how to help her." she said rolling onto her side so she was pressed up next to him and wrapped an arm around her daughter's back.

He stayed awake a little longer as he watched over both his girls. He hated seeing his family in pain and would do anything to get rid of it. For now all three members were peacefully asleep, which meant he got to rest. He closed his eyes and allowed the sounds of his wife and daughter's breathing to lull him back to sleep.


	15. Friend's Wedding

They were off to San Diego for a wedding. It was for one of his close friend's from the Navy, one that he had kept in contact with over the years. He had told them to bring the kids along, and for that reason they couldn't decline the invitation.

He decided they should make a long weekend out of the trip. They hadn't gone on a family vacation with the four of them, so it would be a good to test out the waters of traveling with two kids.

They packed up her car with far too much luggage for their four day trip, but she wanted to be prepared for anything that could happen. He did remind her that if they forgot something they could go out and buy it, but she didn't care.

The wedding ceremony took place on a Saturday night just as the sun was starting to set. She was thankful that their kids were well behaved during it. Their daughter was mesmerized by the bride's white dress and the flowers, while their son happily sat on his lap gnawing on her lipstick tube.

Thanks to the mild weather in San Diego the party was held in a tent outside. He walked around saying hello to old friends and proudly showed off his family. The girl he had talked about since he joined the Navy and the two beautiful children they now had.

Their little boy was all about the new faces saying hello to him. He gave them his best gummy smile and waved his chubby arms around every time a new person greeted him. Their girl was a little more reserved choosing to hide behind her daddy's leg and giving them a small wave and smile. Even after he had picked her up, partly out of fear that she would get stepped on, she continued to rest her head on his shoulder when his friends came over to them.

She had gone to the bathroom, both to feed and change the baby, shortly after the newlyweds had cut the cake. It was way past his bed time and she was hoping that he would fall asleep so they wouldn't have to deal with an ornery baby.

She rocked him gently as she walked back to the tent watching as his eye lids fluttered close. The bright yellow stroller was waiting by her chair, but she wasn't ready to part with her baby just yet. He was getting big now and from past experience knew that moments like this one would soon become a rarity.

She scanned the area looking for the rest of her family when she spotted them on the dance floor. Their little girl, dressed in a light blue dress with a big ribbon in the back, was dancing on her daddy's feet. She still had on her black Mary Jane's which were probably scuffing up his good shoes, but she knew he didn't care.

She had a look of concentration on her face as they danced even though she wasn't doing any of the work. He must have noticed it too because he swooped the four year old up in his arms and spun them around. She let out a squeal of happiness and giggles and the sudden change.

"Again Daddy!" she heard her little girl shout.

Of course he could never say no to her and he picked her up one more time spinning them in many fast circles. He kept her in his arms afterwards and the two swayed side to side. Their daughter was tall for her age and very thin, she took after her father that way. But in her daddy's arms she looked tiny.

She watched him walk over to their table, their daughter draped over his shoulder.

"Looks like we wore out both kids." he said indicating to the baby in her arms.

"I'm not tired." their daughter mumbled into his shoulder.

"Of course you're not." he laughed and pressed a kiss to her blonde curls.

"Want to head out?" she asked.

"Yeah let me just go say goodbye to Brad."

He headed off in the direction of the new husband and wife still carrying their daughter. She carefully laid the baby in the car seat and got him buckled up all without waking him. Successfully transferring sleeping babies was a skill that she never knew she needed and was now very proud of.

"Ready?" he asked when he came back.

"Let's go."

With him carrying their sleeping daughter and her pushing the stroller that held their sleeping son, the family was off to their car to head back to the hotel. They had been a little reluctant to go at first, but it had turned out to be a fun evening.


End file.
